Brussel Sprouts, Mangos and Baloney

Yesterday, Hugh Hewitt had Wall Street Journal reporter Joseph Rago on for almost 90 minutes to discuss his absurd article from last week on blogs. You may remember that the cub reporter wrote an article in the WSJ called the "Blog Mob" which categorically rejected the utility of the internet and the blogosphere. He in essence argued that news was too important to be left to amateurs. The entire transcript is available on Hewitt's Blog

Rago began by reinforcing his argument from the article, talking about several prominent blogs which Hewitt named he said "You know, they’re interpreting the news. That’s certainly fine. But you know, the main thrust of what I wrote was not in regard to journalism. Well, (pause) excuse me, I’m a little bit tongue-tied. You know, it mentions journalism right here, and then it goes on to discuss other things. If you’re looking at the blogosphere as a whole, I think minimal reportage is an accurate assessment."

Let's get this straight first, Hewitt demolished the young reporter. Rago's argument on this interview fell into three broad categories. First, he somehow claimed that the Mainstream Media (MSM) has higher professional standards, or did and that he would like them to get back to those standards. He commented "the New York Times used to reprint every major speech that was done. They don’t do that anymore. That, to me, seems to be a failing of the standards of the mainstream media. What I would like to see is trying to create an institutional culture such as the mainstream media, that has restored the debate standards that they’ve had. I mean, I don’t think that anybody could read the article that I wrote and come away thinking that I’m in favor of everything the mainstream media does, or even that they do a particularly tremendous job. I think there’s been a major failing all over the place, and I wrote the article, I thought, as a useful corrective for some of the claims that are made on behalf of the blogosphere against the mainstream media." Second, he thought that the article got the blogs to think more carefully and to pull in some of their exuberance. "I think it was a useful corrective to some of the triumphalism that we hear about blogs every day." Finally, and I think most importantly, he was worried about the "chaos" of the internet. He commented "But the point that I was trying to make is that even if the standards of the mainstream media failed, it doesn’t seem to me to be an argument against just throwing out all standards in favor of the chaos of the internet."

Econtalk had a recent podcast interview with Walter Williams which the young Rago should have listened to. Williams, is a member of the MSM as a syndicated columnist in hundreds of papers on economic issues. Williams explained the wonder of the market in terms of a grocery store. The average grocery store has thousands of items in it. A fundamental operating principle is that no one places their orders for all those goods in advance. What's more if you go to a store seeking a particular product if that product is not there you may not return. One other principle of grocery stores is that not every person wants everything in the store but the smart grocer stocks a wide variety of products to attract a wide variety of customers. Some people like brussel sprouts, some people don't. What's more, the grocery business, just like the news business, benefits from an ever widening trade. Ten years ago, mangos were an exotic delicacy that were available in only limited quantities or for limited time periods. Now they are as easy to get as apples. But the standards for judging them are different than apples, so if you want to be a mango consumer you need to figure out how to separate the good ones from the bad. No grocer stations a professional arbiter near the mangos to help us decide which are better.

The blogosphere is a lot like a grocery store, except it is a market for ideas. Just like the grocery store, there are a wide variety of products. And just like some grocery stores, there is a wide variation of quality within the overall sector (grocery stores or blogs or the mainstream media, for that matter). What this young reporter fails to appreciate is that just like the market for groceries, the market for ideas is expanding quickly. The smart grocer continues to recognize the benefits of diversity of products that he must carry to satisfy the customer. The smart media person does that too. Let's hope the young Mr. Rago learns that lesson.